This is a division of application Ser. No. 077,689 filed July 24, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,854.
The present invention relates to outboard marine motors, and more particularly to a cowl assembly for housing the engine portion of an outboard marine motor.
An outboard marine motor generally includes an engine portion and a depending gear case. The engine portion of the outboard motor is typically housed by a cowl assembly. In some outboard motors, the cowl assembly includes an upper cowl section adapted to fit together with a lower cowl section to house the engine portion of the motor. While this configuration is generally desirable and effective for certain sizes of outboard motors, there have been drawbacks to such a construction from the standpoint of resistance to entry of water into the cowl assembly. Certain other features of prior cowl assemblies of this type are undesirable, including the latch mechanism and the lower skirt which depends from the lower cowl section at the upper end of the gear case.